ATi Vs. nVidia | AMD Vs. Intel
by Alex Huck · in Technical Issues · 03/10/2006 (3:38 pm) · 12 replies
A lot of people fiercely debate their favorite, I stand in the center, looking at the two sides and wondering, why?
What makes one company better than the other, right now it's in a "Volley ball" like state: nVidia releases a new video card, ATi must compete, so they release one that may be one step ahead, then the "Volleyball" gets tossed back to nVidia to make another better card, and it loops like so. Same with AMD/Intel. The way I see it, both cards are just about the same in quality/performance, the biggest differance, however very small, would depend on what side the volleyball is on currently.
Why is the debate so intense, if both sides are so close?
What makes one company better than the other, right now it's in a "Volley ball" like state: nVidia releases a new video card, ATi must compete, so they release one that may be one step ahead, then the "Volleyball" gets tossed back to nVidia to make another better card, and it loops like so. Same with AMD/Intel. The way I see it, both cards are just about the same in quality/performance, the biggest differance, however very small, would depend on what side the volleyball is on currently.
Why is the debate so intense, if both sides are so close?
About the author
#2
I've used Intel CPUs all my PC life, and the one AMD system I decided to build gave me no end of grief. So I won't be going back to them
For video cards, it's just so happened that I've been using Nvidia cards since the GF2 and I've stuck with them. No real reason to favour them over ATI other than habit.
But if you don't have favourites, just work out what gives you the most bang for your buck and buy that :)
03/10/2006 (4:24 pm)
Why go vegetarian? Why support one football team over another? These things go on for ages. Both sides have their plus and minus points.I've used Intel CPUs all my PC life, and the one AMD system I decided to build gave me no end of grief. So I won't be going back to them
For video cards, it's just so happened that I've been using Nvidia cards since the GF2 and I've stuck with them. No real reason to favour them over ATI other than habit.
But if you don't have favourites, just work out what gives you the most bang for your buck and buy that :)
#3
03/10/2006 (4:30 pm)
Having swinged (is that a word?) from one side to the other, i feel that they are both comapable.
#5
The bottom line is that probably both products are good but all you need is a little bad experience to decide which side your on. Then that's just a matter of habit, like you I stick to nVidia since GF2, but I won't be realy able to argue why I choose AMD over Intel or nVidia over ATI.
03/11/2006 (8:50 am)
@philip, funny I got same thing but my grief goes to intel, while I never had any trouble with AMD. The bottom line is that probably both products are good but all you need is a little bad experience to decide which side your on. Then that's just a matter of habit, like you I stick to nVidia since GF2, but I won't be realy able to argue why I choose AMD over Intel or nVidia over ATI.
#6
03/11/2006 (9:21 am)
AMD does give better perfomance over Intel for the same price or lower.
#8
I prefer Nvidia because they are ahead of ATI with functionality. And none of my Nvidia cards have ever overheated and I buy the latest models as they come out. You have to get an Nvidia card made by a good company like XFX, EVGA or BFG. If you get a powercolor made card you will have overheating peoblems.
I also have an ATI card and had no problems with it.
03/11/2006 (4:29 pm)
AMD kills intel. This is a no brainer. Intel is miles behind AMD.I prefer Nvidia because they are ahead of ATI with functionality. And none of my Nvidia cards have ever overheated and I buy the latest models as they come out. You have to get an Nvidia card made by a good company like XFX, EVGA or BFG. If you get a powercolor made card you will have overheating peoblems.
I also have an ATI card and had no problems with it.
#9
so why stop at hardware?
lets talk Windows vs Linux vs Mac!
hahah.. i kid, i kid...
03/11/2006 (5:48 pm)
I'm cheap, so whatever gives the most bang for the buck (including the least grief) is what i buy.so why stop at hardware?
lets talk Windows vs Linux vs Mac!
hahah.. i kid, i kid...
#10
03/11/2006 (8:18 pm)
I like the AMD and the Nvidia setup got a 64 bit 939 socket 3.8 MHz 6800 ultra 2 gig of ram 2 80 gig sata hard drives water cooled. I still need to install using heat sink and fan now runs awesome. 
#11
ATI's drivers are really solid these days. nVidia set the standard in the industry for solid drivers but have had some serious issues supporting legacy cards and fixed function pipeline cards for the last several years. nVidia does still have much better support for Linux drivers but ATI is gaining some ground there.
As a Computer Engineer, I can affirm that AMD's processors are technologically far superior to Intel's. Has been since the original Athlon was launched. AMD has also traditionally made better long range decisions for their partners and consumers such as their approach to 64-bit processors (Intel had to scrap their approach and play catchup on AMD on that one). They also embraced DDR RAM way before Intel. The only reason I ever hesitate recommending AMD to someone is that Intel's market penetration is sooo huge that AMD can sometimes get starved for attention by the driver writers and motherboard manufacturers which can lead to instability/crashes. It doesn't happen nearly as often anymore but it is still there.
Honestly, these days it isn't a big deal who you pick. At home I have an Athlon XP with an ATI X800. At work I use a laptop with a Pentium 4 Mobile with an nVidia 6800 mobile. Both systems work equally as well for all of my gaming and game development and I never have to think about what hardware I am actually running.
03/13/2006 (3:36 pm)
As long as you skip the nVidia GeForce FX 5200, 5600, 5900, and 5950 then you are going to get fairly comparable cards no matter which side you pick. The GFX 5XXX line of cards was an attempt on nVidia's part to get ahead of the technology curve on ATI (fully 128-bit shader pipeline) but it ended up really hurting their performance (and we need not get into the vacuum cleaner fans on the 5900 series =P). Go read some of the comments that Valve made during the development of HL2 regarding the 5XXX series...these are real and valid issues that I have personally run into as a game developer.ATI's drivers are really solid these days. nVidia set the standard in the industry for solid drivers but have had some serious issues supporting legacy cards and fixed function pipeline cards for the last several years. nVidia does still have much better support for Linux drivers but ATI is gaining some ground there.
As a Computer Engineer, I can affirm that AMD's processors are technologically far superior to Intel's. Has been since the original Athlon was launched. AMD has also traditionally made better long range decisions for their partners and consumers such as their approach to 64-bit processors (Intel had to scrap their approach and play catchup on AMD on that one). They also embraced DDR RAM way before Intel. The only reason I ever hesitate recommending AMD to someone is that Intel's market penetration is sooo huge that AMD can sometimes get starved for attention by the driver writers and motherboard manufacturers which can lead to instability/crashes. It doesn't happen nearly as often anymore but it is still there.
Honestly, these days it isn't a big deal who you pick. At home I have an Athlon XP with an ATI X800. At work I use a laptop with a Pentium 4 Mobile with an nVidia 6800 mobile. Both systems work equally as well for all of my gaming and game development and I never have to think about what hardware I am actually running.
#12
For some who aren't in the middle, it goes a little bit deeper than who released what technology this week. Certainly that's a big thing for most people, many of whom probably don't understand what the specs. really mean (or don't mean as the case may be). Beyond product loyalty and vollyballs, there's LOTS to judge the companies on.
ATI vs. NVIDIA
- As mentioned above NVidia is a little more on the edge, while ATI plays it a touch safer.
- I forget which is which, but one tends to have better multi-platform support (ie. linux-friendly), while the other is most likely to stick tight to the newest Microsoft Specifications.
- Similarly, one is supposed to be better with OpenGl and one is better with Direct-X.
- Nvidia founded in 1993, in Calfiorna
- ATI founded in 1985, Markham, Ontario, Canada.
Intel vs. AMD
- Intel has a higher clock cycle
- AMD does more WORK per clock cycle, but also runs HOTTER
- Intel is the "innovator" of the group as they own the X-86 specification
- Every time Intel changes the X-86 spec in an aggresivly monoplistic move against AMD, AMD reverse-engineers the intel work, and re-implements it better
- but usually 6-10 months later
- AMD has been on top of 64-bit technology like white-on-rice
- Intel is arriving in the 64-bit era a day-late, a buck-short, and less experienced for it...
- AMD founded 1969
- Intel founded in 1968
And you'd never know I've never owned an AMD product in my life...
Other Factors in both arguments
- Coporate ethics
- recent or prospective mergers
- recent earnings
- projected earnings
- employee benifits
- ... ... ...
Conclusion
So as you can see, there are a plethora of factors on which people base their leanings. Alot of it has to do with what other hardware/software one is stuck with and how one intends to use it. Or it could just be the guy next to you in the circut-city line is baseing his "rave-product reviews" on the stock portfolio he just inherited - you never know...
[edit]
Particularly in the case of AMD and INTEL the debate has been rageing for nearly 40 years!!! In computer terms thats a very long time, and i'm sure it only adds fuel to the fire.
In the end though, we live in a free capitlist society, and the debate is the product of (usually)healthy-competition - the lifeblood of free-trade. So let the debate rage on, as thats what keeps innovation up and prices down!
[/edit]
Hope that helps a little Alex.
03/13/2006 (4:21 pm)
As to the original question of why a debate?For some who aren't in the middle, it goes a little bit deeper than who released what technology this week. Certainly that's a big thing for most people, many of whom probably don't understand what the specs. really mean (or don't mean as the case may be). Beyond product loyalty and vollyballs, there's LOTS to judge the companies on.
ATI vs. NVIDIA
- As mentioned above NVidia is a little more on the edge, while ATI plays it a touch safer.
- I forget which is which, but one tends to have better multi-platform support (ie. linux-friendly), while the other is most likely to stick tight to the newest Microsoft Specifications.
- Similarly, one is supposed to be better with OpenGl and one is better with Direct-X.
- Nvidia founded in 1993, in Calfiorna
- ATI founded in 1985, Markham, Ontario, Canada.
Intel vs. AMD
- Intel has a higher clock cycle
- AMD does more WORK per clock cycle, but also runs HOTTER
- Intel is the "innovator" of the group as they own the X-86 specification
- Every time Intel changes the X-86 spec in an aggresivly monoplistic move against AMD, AMD reverse-engineers the intel work, and re-implements it better
- but usually 6-10 months later
- AMD has been on top of 64-bit technology like white-on-rice
- Intel is arriving in the 64-bit era a day-late, a buck-short, and less experienced for it...
- AMD founded 1969
- Intel founded in 1968
And you'd never know I've never owned an AMD product in my life...
Other Factors in both arguments
- Coporate ethics
- recent or prospective mergers
- recent earnings
- projected earnings
- employee benifits
- ... ... ...
Conclusion
So as you can see, there are a plethora of factors on which people base their leanings. Alot of it has to do with what other hardware/software one is stuck with and how one intends to use it. Or it could just be the guy next to you in the circut-city line is baseing his "rave-product reviews" on the stock portfolio he just inherited - you never know...
[edit]
Particularly in the case of AMD and INTEL the debate has been rageing for nearly 40 years!!! In computer terms thats a very long time, and i'm sure it only adds fuel to the fire.
In the end though, we live in a free capitlist society, and the debate is the product of (usually)healthy-competition - the lifeblood of free-trade. So let the debate rage on, as thats what keeps innovation up and prices down!
[/edit]
Hope that helps a little Alex.
Torque 3D Owner iHugMedia
ATI cards, whilst not with SM3 and such features until Nvidia have perfected it, are generally a bit more stable and more powerful with better AA/Aniso support.
Go with Nvidia if you want to look good, go with ATI if your a bit more toward the Performance end of the market
I'm Biased with AMD, so I won't write an argument here.